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Question -9
Is it true that the knowledge of Ketu as a graha was absent in the Mahabharata period?
Answer:
It is wrong to say that the knowledge of Ketu as a graha (planet) was not known in the Mahabharata period.
Ketu has several meanings, most prominent being the descending node which is Ketu graha, a sign, mark, sun spot, banner (standard), comet and so on.
In the Mahabharata the word Ketu appears as 'banner / standard' (8-46-11) mentioned by Yudhishthira. But the word Ketu does not appear to mean a comet. Its presence as a graha among the nine grahas is palpable in the Mahabharata. Those instances are produced below.
(1)
Eclipses are caused by either Rahu or Ketu joining New Moon or Full Moon. There are instances of both types of eclipses reported in the Mahabharata which could not be possible without the knowledge of Ketu and its location on any given time.
(2)
Rahu and Ketu exist as a pair by which the very mention of Rahu automatically implies the presence of Ketu exactly 180 degrees away from it. This gave rise a trend of mentioning only Rahu and its location even in the astrology texts. The location of Ketu is deduced from it and pinpointed in the zodiac. The same trend is noted in the Mahabharata wherein Rahu is mentioned along with 'ca' to indicate its pair Ketu.
For example, there is an expression in Sabha Parvan
"śukro bṛhaspatiś caiva budho aṅgāraka eva ca
śanaiścaraś ca
rāhuś ca grahāḥ sarve tathaiva ca (2-11-20)
Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Rahu (ca / and ) all grahas where all grahas include Ketu, the Sun and the Moon.
Even if the Sun and the Moon are not mentioned, it is understood that they are part of the Graha group.
Similarly even if Ketu is not mentioned, it is understood that it hangs on to Rahu inevitably.
That is why these three are not openly mentioned here but made as 'etc'.
It is Rahu etc; here six planets etc. Such expressions can happen only if the left out ones are common knowledge.
(3)
Ketu's reference is understood from the combinations given. In the verse expressing the return of the moon for 'Magha vishaya', when the armies assembled in Kurukshetra, it is said that seven grahas appeared in the firmament blazing like fire. The seven include Ketu in the day sky on that day. Moon and Rahu were the remaining two positioned in Magha then on the night sky.
(4)
In another context, Rahu and Ketu are clubbed together as "mahāgrahāv" in dual case who afflict the brightness of the Sun and the Moon - implying eclipses (8-63-16)
(5)
In another context, Sanjaya describes the valour of the Magadha king, as peerless in handling the elephant-hook as the headless planet is peerless among the planets (Ganguli's translation).
The headless planet is Ketu (8-13-5). Today it is depicted as having the snake's head on the body of the deity. Rahu is shown with a snake's body with the head of a deity. The headless Ketu with the snake's head superimposed on it is more lethal because just by biting, it poisons the victim whereas in the case of other planets, the affliction is by 'aspect' or 'peeda'.
Looking at the exact word in Sanjaya's version it was "vikaca" (graheṣv asahyo vikaco yathā grahaḥ), which means without hair or hairless. The verse also states that it is a graha.
Ketu's other name is Shikhi (शिखी) given in the astrological text, Brihat Jataka, (v. II-3), derived from 'Shikhin' which means hair or tuft. The Shikha must have come to be associated with Ketu in course of time after having treated it as hairless in the early days (such as the Mahabharata time). The hairlessness might be associated with the bald head of the snake. The Shikhi could refer to the superimposed head on the headless Ketu graha.
Therefore it is wrong to say that Mahabharata people had not known Ketu, the graha.
In fact the knowledge of all the Nava grahas as we know today has come down to us from the Mahabharata period.
